As our program continues to grow, we are continually looking to improve volunteer experience and data collection. We’ve made a few much-needed changes to our Invasives Strike Force (ISF) and Blockbuster survey programs for 2018. Probably the most significant change is that Blockbuster and ISF will no longer be separate programs but combined into separate levels of the same survey program. For our experienced volunteers, we hope these changes will allow you to step up to a new level
while new volunteers have the opportunity to start with more easily identified species. Our three ISF surveys this year include the following:

ISF Standard Survey (formerly Phase 1)

Our easiest survey level, focuses on surveys along hiking trails. After attending a 1-day training where you will learn how to identify 14 common invasive species, you walk along your assigned 2-mile section of trail with data sheets and record what you find. Once you get home, type up your results and email them to us!

The small change we've made in this program is that we've removed 2 infrequently reported species (bush honeysuckle and purple loosestrife) and
replaced them with 2 easy to identify species from the old Phase 2 list (mile-a-minute and Japanese angelica tree). The data collection methods have not changed.

To start as a surveyor at this level, you must attend one of the following ISF Standard trainings. Existing surveyors are welcome to come for a refresher or just to learn the two new species.

The next level survey is perfect for returning ISF surveyors or those with a passion for learning new plants! This level uses the same data collection methods as the Standard level and continues to focus on surveying hiking trails. In the Intermediate training class, you learn 11 new invasive species that may be a little less commonly found than those you learned in the Standard level.

We have changed the species list quite a bit from the old Phase 2 list from
previous years. We've removed 5 species and added 5 others - dropping some infrequently found species and adding some species that are included in the BlockBuster survey level.

To become an ISF Intermediate surveyor, you must attend one of the following half-day trainings.

Perfect for returning BlockBuster volunteers and folks who already know many common invasive plants and want to make a big impact. Volunteers search for the same 27 species as in the original BlockBuster Survey program, and you will complete surveys in three different areas (highly probable area, natural area parking lot, and natural area trail) in a 3x3-mile block just like the original BlockBuster program.

The biggest difference from previous years is that we
will use the same protocol as ISF Standard and Intermediate levels, which is simpler than previous BlockBuster protocols. Previous BlockBuster volunteers are asked to attend a new training to learn this new protocol. Options include attending the afternoon portion of an ISF Standard session when the protocol is taught and practiced or the morning of an ISF BlockBuster training.

BlockBuster training will assume you already know the species that were covered in ISF Standard and Intermediate levels and will focus on teaching the 11 new species introduced at the BlockBuster level. The remainder of the BlockBuster list includes 9 species from ISF Standard and 7 species from ISF Intermediate.

To become an ISF BlockBuster surveyor, you must attend a one-day training: either the BlockBuster course, or if you're an experienced BlockBuster surveyor, arrange to attend just the protocol section of an ISF Standard or BlockBuster workshop.

As some of you may know, we have been working towards obtaining an invasives detection dog to be part of our Invasives Strike Force. With their incredible sense of smell, detection dogs have been able to find emerald ash borer eggs in piles of woodchips, invasive plant seeds in the soil, and animal scat that is weeks old. Using detection dogs in conservation is the cutting edge of research, and we are hoping to launch a pilot program this year, the first of its kind in the Northeast. We have even
found the perfect dog! Her name is Willow.

We need to raise $10,500 to successfully launch this program. And thanks to a challenge grant from Paul and Joan
Zofnass, your donation today will help get us there even faster. Every gift to the Conservation Detection Dog Fund will be matched at 50 cents on the dollar. So if you give $100, your gift automatically turns into $150.

Honor your favorite furry hiking companion, past or present, in support of launching this cutting-edge detection program. Your gift will help us eliminate even more invasives and preserve our trail lands. Donate to our Conservation Detection Dog Fund, and support Willow
today!

With spring comes flowers; tiny red flowers on red maples, yellow forsythia blooms which grace the edges of at least one lot on every suburban street in the Northeast, and innumerable crocuses, daffodils, and tulips. Among all of blooms, you might expect to find a plethora of smells that will welcome you to enjoy the entire sensory experience spring has to offer. That is, until you find yourself downwind of one of the most commonly planted ornamental trees. Bradford pear, a
variety of Callery pear, blooms in April and early May and emits a smell to rival the rankest of second-rate fish markets. Despite its ability to tolerate a wide range of conditions, it can’t seem to hold itself together very long and when it encounters wind and ice storms, it's branches split and contort. Its fruit, inedible to humans, is loved by birds which spread the seeds along roadsides and in old fields ensuring our spring hikes through infested areas will remind us of week-old sushi and other unpleasant odors for years to come.

Callery pear flowers, the source of the odor in the spring. Credit: T. Davis Sydnor, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org

Callery pear is under-reported in our area and best identified in April when it is in flower and many other plants haven’t leafed out yet. Please only report pears which are obviously growing wild - not those planted in yards or along streets.

To identify Callery pear in the wild this spring, look in shrubby meadows and forest edges for a small
tree with alternatebranchesand bunches of five-petaled rank-smelling white flowers. Another identifying characteristic is the presence of sharp tipped, thorn-like spurs which grow alternately along the branches. Although similar spurs grow on other species, when seen with the smelly white flowers you can be sure you are looking at a Callery pear. The characteristic pyramidal or "lollipop" shape is also easy to spot.

Callery pear sticks out like a sore thumb in the wild this time of year. Credit: Richard Gardner, UMES, Bugwood.org

If you think you’ve found Callery pear growing in the wild, please report it to us! While we have many reports in Northern New Jersey and West of Hudson, we suspect many populations in these regions are still unreported and we have only a handful of reports East of Hudson. You can send observations of this, and any invasive species to the Lower Hudson PRISM using our simple webform found here.

Spotted Lanternfly, a new invasive insect, is making gardeners and farmers nervous throughout the country. Credit: Lawrence Barringer, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bugwood.org

Volunteer Opportunity - Spotted Lanternfly Trap Monitor

We are currently looking for volunteers in New York to help monitor Spotted Lanternfly by putting up survey traps on tree-of-heaven stands this spring and monitoring the traps in the fall.

Oftentimes invasive species management can be seen as all doom and gloom, that the scary plant/fish/fungus/insect is coming to destroy your forest/yard/lake/home/livelihood and the world will never be the same. Sometimes these causes of concern do not pan out and the predictions of
ecological devastation can be exaggerated. Sometimes, they are not.

One we really hope is an exaggeration is the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula). Native to China, Vietnam, and India, it primarily feeds on tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima) but ravishes apples, walnuts, grapes, stonefruit, hops, and just about every native hardwood we have.

It was first discovered in Pennsylvania in 2014 and has since spread to New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. A single, dead individual was recently found in New York, but they are expected to continue their spread this year and we want to be ready to find them. As
with all invasives, by monitoring the spread we are better able to jump on and control new infestations.

Spotted Lanternfly Trap Monitors will have to attend a half-day training on

Saturday May 12 1:00 - 3:00.

Those interested in volunteering for this program should send an email to [email protected].

The Invasives Program is also looking for skilled plant-ID volunteers to monitor populations of rare and endangered plants along the Appalachian Trail. The Appalachian Trail is getting more traffic than ever and the effects of invasive species and climate change are threatening these isolated populations.

A critical part of preserving the trail experience and stewarding our biodiversity is monitoring and maintaining rare and endangered plant populations along the
trail. Since these plants are not commonly seen, it takes a keen and experienced eye to pick them out of the landscape. Those interested in volunteering for this program should sign up for the half-day training below.

April 14th - ISF Crew Workday Yorktown Heights, NY

Join multiple organizations including the Trail Conference in combating tree-killing vines and other invasive plants in Yorktown’s beautiful
Turkey Mountain Park. Help us improve the park’s habitat by removing these invasives that crowd out wildlife-friendly native plants.

May 6th - Habitat Helpers Crew, Mahwah, NJ

Join volunteers from the Bergen - Passaic chapter of the Native Plant Society of New Jersey and our landscape architect to plant, remove weeds and learn about some of the native plants in our habitat around the Trail Conference headquarters.

April 15th - Habitat Helpers Crew, Mahwah, NJ

Join volunteers from the Bergen - Passaic chapter of the Native Plant Society of New Jersey and our landscape architect to remove weeds and invasive plants
and learn about some of the native plants in our habitat around the Trail Conference headquarters.

May 17th - Training, Bronx, NY

Learn to report invasive species and navigate the state database with the iMap team of the NY Natural Heritage Program, followed by information on emerging invasive species and an outside tour led by Daniel Atha of New York Botanical Garden. Registration required.